Wind Dancer
by Hikaru Tsuki
Summary: (Takes reference to Rukonians from Wings of Hope) A Rukonian Raichu finds himself lost and struggling between himself and his greatest treasure.


Wind Dancer

I scrambled through the grass; my heart pounding so loudly I swore that my enemy would be able to track me down just by hearing it. I would normally fly away from my enemies, but the pokemon trainer had an electric pokemon with him, so I wasn't going to take chances. Ironic that a Raichu would fear another electric pokemon, but because of my rare Rukonian wings, I'm forced to fear them.

What am I exactly? I'm a Raichu. Your normal adorable and loveable Raichu. But because I was born in Rukonia—the ancient home of the legendary race of winged humans—I was born with beautiful, white wings on my back. How did this happen? The Tsubasa no Kami—also known as the Goddess of Rukonians—gives all pokemon who are born on her island wings at birth. This makes us Rukonian Pokemon. But unlike human Rukonians, we cannot pull our wings into our backs—they always show. Unfortunately, because our wings aren't natural, they're extremely fragile and are only held in place by a layer of skin. So not only can the bones in our backs break easily, but they can be ripped right off your back. I remember once, seeing a Ninetales running from a pokemon trainer in Rukonia. The trainer grabbed it by its wings, and panicked, the Ninetales pulled away, causing its wings to rip off. It escaped, but its wings were gone. Not many people know about us, but those who do see us can never prove it unless we're captured, which as far as I know, has never happened. Until now.

Not many pokemon live in Rukonia, but the area is rugged and food is scarce. The idea was almost completely destroyed when it had been bombed so long ago, and since hardly any humans have bothered to come to the deserted island. Those who did who weren't Rukonians were killed by the Tsubasa no Kami. She's very protective of her island. But if you are a Rukonian, she grants you great powers. 

I was panting heavily; my ears were folded back so they wouldn't show through the tall grass. I had flown away from Rukonia in search of a new place to live. The flight was very relaxing for me. I loved to be able to fly. It gave me the freedom I always treasured. Nothing beat spinning around like a ballerina in the clouds. My mother used to call me her little Wind Dancer. Food was becoming more and more hard to come by in Rukonia, so I was forced to come here. I had landed in a strange forest were pokemon with no wings (besides the birds) thrived. I was so used to seeing winged pokemon that it seemed odd to see them without. 

I had found a large tree on the edge of the forest, beside a strange structure that looked similar to the beat-down shrines of Rukonia. But there was one big difference; it wasn't made of stone. It was wood, but it was white. I never thought much about it, so I flapped my wings and perched myself on one of the thicker branches on the tree to find that it was filled with ripe, juicy cherries. It was a warm day, so the cherries were warm as I popped them into my mouth, than spat out the pits. They were black cherries, not those bright red ones that tasted really gross. These were delicious and I gorged myself on them, savouring each bite. 

After a few minutes, I heard a strange creaking sound from below. I looked down to see a part of the wall of the strange structure open and a human walked out. I froze for a moment, before jumping from the thick branch deep into the tree, where the leaves hid me. My heart pounded furiously. I knew that Rukonian pokemon were rare, and humans would try to capture me. 

I kept quiet, except for my heart thumping loudly. I held my breath for a while as the human looked into the tree, almost straight at me but he didn't seem to know I was there.

He was wearing a really baggy shirt with long sleeves and jean pants. I knew that much. He had really ruffled up black hair and dark green eyes. He looked so strange, yet dangerous at the same time. 

"Damn birds," he muttered in a deep voice, "always stealing my cherries." 

I gulped nervously. I looked to my right only to see that the branch I was in was beginning to break. I could feel it start to give beneath my feet. I had two options; jump to another branch and risk having the human notice, or stay where I was and hope he went back inside before the branch snapped. 

But before I could make a decision, I heard the boy shout, "What is that?" 

Looking down at him, I knew he had spotted me. Panicking, I unfolded my wings, spread them as far as I could, and with one strong, solid flap, shot straight through the leaves of the tree, high to the sky. The boy was shouting in hysterics as I flapped my wings deeper into the forest.

Looking below me, I spotted that strange human chasing me, screaming. "It has wings! It has wings!" He then yanked off a strange white and red ball from his pants and threw it ahead of him. It opened and a flash of red light erupted from it, blinding me for a moment. The next time I looked where that ball had landed, there was a Jolteon—one of the fastest pokemon out there. It was an electric type, and because of my wings, I would be weak to its attacks. The young boy was a pokemon trainer, and I knew then I had every right to be scared of him. 

It shot several bolts of electricity at me, but I was able to dodge them. I flew all the time in Rukonia, so I was swift in the air. I could run on the ground, but not nearly as well. I didn't want to attack the pokemon. The only reason it was attacking me was because its trainer was ordering it to. Rukonians are peaceful and we don't like to fight, so I flew as far from the two as I could. I made sure to fly over thorn bushes so they couldn't follow me. 

Suddenly, I looked behind me to find the Jolteon fire a huge blast of electricity directly at me. Before I had a chance to respond, it hit me like flying straight into a brick wall. And believe me, I've done it several times so I know what it's like. I could feel the surge of electricity run through my insides, burning everything. I cried out in agony as I stretched out my paws and my wings out stiffly. Once it stopped, which seemed like hours later, I became limp and I fell straight down through the air into the thorn bushes below me. My plan had backfired as the thorns on the branches dug through my fur into my skin. I landed with a loud thud when I finally hit the dirt. I heard a snap in one of my wings. I had broke it. 

I had scratches all over me and thorns stuck in my skin. I felt one caught over my eye, and I cringed as I used my paw to remove it. I perked my ears up; I could hear the Jolteon break through the thorny branches, trying to get to me. Its trainer was yelling at it, urging it to catch me. 

I had no choice but to attack. My wings were sore from the fall, and one was broken, but I couldn't make it through the thorns as quickly as the Jolteon. I really didn't want to attack the poor pokemon, but I had to. Closing my eyes tightly, I forced all the electricity in my body to my cheeks where I felt it spark. Then, with one big push, I blasted as much electricity as I could in one blow at the Jolteon. I hit it hard and it whimpered in pain as I made my get away. I tried to spread my wings to fly out, but thorns surrounded me so I had no room. 

I reluctantly began to crawl through the bush, struggling to avoid the thorns that surrounded me at every angle. I got several in my paws and in the thunderbolt at the end of my long tail. By the time I got out, I had probably hundreds of them stuck in my skin, and I could feel them all. They stung horribly; it was like being stung by a thousand Weedle all at once. 

I was relived to be out of there, but that Jolteon was hot on my trial, and the pokemon trainer was using a Scyther to cut through the bush. I spent a moment leaning against a tree, panting heavily. Just a second's rest would help me. I looked around me frantically, hoping to find a spot to hide. To my right, was a field of grass, which was taller than I was. Without thinking twice about it, I darted into the grass and folded my ears back, so the trainer couldn't spot me. My heart was pounding so loud I feared the Jolteon would hear it and track me down. 

I began to ask myself why I bothered coming here. I would've been safer back home in Rukonia. Sure, food wasn't as rich as it was in this forest, but in Rukonia, there was nothing to fear. I had never known fear before this. 

The adrenaline in my body was making me shake, it screamed at me to keep running. It kept telling me I had to keep moving, but another part of me told me to stay put. I whimpered to myself and curled into a tight ball in the grass, folding my ears as far back as they could go. 

I remembered my mother telling me that no Rukonian Pokemon had ever been captured before. I was scared that I was going to be the first. I didn't want to be captured by that boy and his electric pokemon. I wanted to be free—I wanted to be able to live without any fears. I wanted to go back to Rukonia. 

I looked behind me where my wings were folded back. There were thorns caught in them and some of the white feathers were stained red with my own blood. I could hear the Jolteon wandering through the grass. I would hear it sniffing around, trying to pick up my scent. I was shaking all over. 

"Maybe I'll have a heart attack and die before it finds me," I foolishly thought to myself for a moment. 

The rustling of the grass was becoming louder as the Jolteon approached me. Finally, I gave in and spread my wings, pushed them down and shot straight into the air. I cried out in pain, my broken wing felt awful. The pokemon trainer and the Jolteon were below me. While the boy shouted at his pokemon to attack me, the electric dog was barking and trying to hit me with electric attacks, only to miss. 

My wings hurt. Not only from those thorns, but that fall into the bushes and the electric attack from the Jolteon earlier. Not to mention one had a broken bone. I was usually able to fly easily. Flapping my wings to fly was just as easy as walking. But now, it was like trying to run with one leg. My wings hurt horribly and were feeling really weak. I almost felt like breaking down into tears of frustration. I stayed in the air as long as I could, and was able to fly deeper into the forest where the boy and the Jolteon wouldn't find me. 

I tried to land in a tree, but I couldn't balance properly because of my broken wing and I fell down to the ground again, landing on that wing. I cringed as I felt my own body weight injure my broken wing even more. I began to cry. My fur had dirt all over in it, my wings were injured so badly I may never be able to fly again, and with pokemon trainers after me because of my wings, I was in a lot of danger. I suddenly felt a great hatred for my wings. I couldn't pull them into my back, only human Rukonians could do that. One was broken and I couldn't fly with it for months. With trainers after me because of my wings, and since I couldn't fly, I was bound to be captured soon. But I didn't want to be captured; I wanted to be free. I wanted to be able to go where I wanted when I wanted. I didn't want to be stuck in one of those weird balls; I wanted to live in the outdoors. 

I wiped away a few tears from my cheeks and sniffled. I folded my ears back and continued to cry. I couldn't go home with my wings in this condition. I looked back at them again—for the last time. With shaking paws, I reached behind me and grasped my wings in my paws firmly. Then, cringing and with tears stinging my eyes, I tore off my wings straight from my back. I screamed in pain as I felt the wings break. I was screaming in agony, and I let go of my wings, letting them fall to the dirt. 

I looked down behind me. On the ground were my two wings. Blood stained feathers and broken bones. I couldn't stop crying. I was no longer a Rukonian, I was safe, but I had lost my most precious possessions. The loose feathers that were scattered on the dirt below me began to disintegrate into nothing. My wings began to glow brightly, before dissolving into the ground. 

I looked up at the sky. I was so used to living there. With the clouds, with the highest branches of the trees. Now, I was trapped on the ground. I could no longer fly; I had lost half of my world, half my life. I noticed a bird pokemon fly through the forest, high above me. It had no idea how precious its gift of flight was. My vision was then blurred by my salty tears that made my eyes sting. 

I was no longer a Rukonian Raichu. I was no longer a Wind Dancer. Just like that Ninetales whose wings were ripped off by a pokemon trainer, I was trapped. 


End file.
